John Weston (aka Maximilian John Ludwick Weston ) was a South African aeronautical engineer, pioneer aviator, farmer and soldier. He travelled extensively in a motor caravan (RV) that he designed and built himself. Weston was a pioneer of aviation in South Africa. In 1911, Weston founded the Aeronautical Society of South Africa. The Society hosts a bi-annual memorial lecture in his honour.
Early life Weston's registration of birth is missing from the national records in Pretoria. As a result, many details are uncertain. Weston is said to have been born on 17 June 1873, in an ox wagon at Fort Marshall, northern Natal, South Africa. His father and mother's names are unknown and they may have been British. Weston's mother and sister, Lucy, died in China of cholera in 1928.
Early career In 1888 Weston was apprenticed as an engineer to the J. Jaspar company in Liege, Belgium and then worked for de Puydt and Poncin Lighting and Power Company, where he rose to the position of partner and technical advisor. In 1900–1901, Weston established M. Weston and Co., (Manufacture de la Lampe a arc, 1900) a company manufacturing electrical lights in Liege. Weston returned to South Africa during the Second Boer War to fight on the side of the Boers. Left poor after the war, Weston borrowed £100 from a friend and went to America. In 1903, Weston applied for membership of the British Institute of Electrical Engineers and the company opened an office in Birkenhead, Liverpool. With the assistance of the Russian Embassy in Washington, Weston was employed as an engineer for the Chinese Eastern Railway, working on a stretch near Lake Baikal. It was here he learned to speak Russian. The railway was to be finished by 1905 but on 8 February 1904, Japan declared war on Russia. Initially stranded, Weston escaped via Port Arthur, Manchuria. Subsequently, he travelled widely to seek work. Weston was admitted as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society on 17 September 1904. Weston returned to South Africa in early 1905. In August 1906, he married Elizabeth (Lily) Maria Jacoba Roux in Bloemfontein. The couple had three children: Anna MacDougal (b. 1908), Kathleen (b. 1912), and Maximilian John (b. 1915). Weston became a farmer in Doornpoort and later in Kalkdam. In May 1909, the family moved to Brandfort, Free State.
Contribution to aviation In 1907–1908, at Kalkdam, Weston built an aeroplane from a plan by Gabriel Voisin with a Panhard engine, but it was under-powered and never flew. On 14 September 1910, Weston arrived in England en route to France to pursue his interest in aviation.
France In France, Weston trained at the Henri Farman flying school at Étampes. On 30 December 1910, Weston flew solo at Étampes and on 5 January 1911, passed his pilot test. He was granted aviator certificate No. 357 by the French Aero Club on 3 February 1911.
Brandfort Weston returned to South Africa in 1911 with an aircraft powered by a 50 hp Gnome engine. The aeroplane was called the Weston-Farman. At Brandfort, Weston imported and sold airplanes and parts. These included the Blériot monoplane, the Farman and the Bristol biplane, Gnome engines, and Chauviére propellers.
Aeronautical Society of South Africa Weston was a founding member of the Aeronautical Society of South Africa. He also established the John Weston Aviation Company to raise funds to establish a flying school with a permanent airfield. The company's wealthy sponsors funded flying demonstrations in South Africa and Mozambique. In December 1909, the Frenchman, Albert Kimmerling made the first powered flight in South Africa in East London. In June 1911, Weston flew the Weston-Farman for eight and a half minutes at Kimberley. It was a South African record for the duration of a flight. Demonstrations of the company's five aircraft (one Weston-Farman, three Bristols, and one Farman) followed at Johannesburg, Lorenzo Marques, Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Kenilworth, East London, King Williams Town and Queenstown.
Difficulties In 1912, Weston was unsuccessful in his efforts to be appointed as an adviser to the government of Jan Smuts in the investment in military aircraft and pilot training. At that time, the flying demonstrations drew large crowds, but little investment. In January 1913, arrangements were made for flying demonstrations at Brandfort. A large crowd had assembled on the racecourse when a dust storm began and destroyed the airplane. Then, in early February 1912, the Brandfort hangar was destroyed by arson. Weston dismissed the offer of a joint venture with aviator, Cecil Compton Paterson. On 1 July 1913, the Paterson Aviation Syndicate was registered in Kimberley, and on 10 September 1913, Paterson and the Union government entered into an agreement concerning the training of the first South African military pilots for what would later become the South African Air Force.
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